In commemoration of the 55th anniversary of the career of manga artist Mitsuru Adachi, known for works such as "Touch," an exhibition Mitsuru Adachi the artist's 55th anniversary will be held at Sunshine City Exhibition Hall C (Toshima-ku, Tokyo) from December 19th. In response to this, a special talk was held on the 18th between Adachi and Noriko Hidaka in the anime "Touch" and the exhibition's audio guide navigator. Adachi spoke about his particular attention to expressing the "pauses" in his works, where characters do not say much.
Regarding the "pauses," Adachi said, "I think I was conscious of that. If you put it into words, it takes on meaning. I liked somehow conveying nuances and hidden emotions without putting them into words, so I did that. In order to make that work, the story wouldn't move forward unless the other person had the ability to understand their feelings. I surrounded the protagonist with adult-like characters who you wouldn't expect from high school students, supporting characters who are understanding and can figure out what's going on, and I managed to keep going."
Hidaka also said that when she reads Adachi's works, "I think about a lot of things during the landscape scenes without dialogue," and added, "Having that time allows me to become more immersed in the story. Even though I'm just reading, I love the feeling that I'm watching the characters from the sidelines."
However, she said that acting as a character in Adachi's work is difficult, saying, "I ended up expressing it through my voice in the work 'Touch.' The teacher told me to express my true feelings without putting them into words. My true feelings are elsewhere, but I had to say these lines and express them through my voice, so (during recording) I made mistakes so many times and had to re-record so many times. It was great when I was reading, but I remember thinking it was really difficult to act." She said that during recording, "my skin was constantly wrinkled," and when she "complained," saying, "It's the teacher's fault that I still have wrinkles!", Adachi gave a wry smile.
Regarding the popularity of "Touch" at the time, Adachi recalled, "The artist himself didn't care, and I didn't know what it was that was popular, and analyzing it made it even more confusing, so I just drew it without worrying about it. But after it became an anime, I tried to express things in ways that couldn't be done in anime, and I tried to challenge him in that regard."
The "Adachi Mitsuru Adachi Exhibition - Commemorating 55 Years of His Artistic Career" will feature over 40 treasured original drawings, including some that will be shown for the first time, as well as valuable materials such as rough sketches, making it the largest exhibition to date with a total of over 300 items on display. The exhibition will run until January 14, 2026.
